How to Keep Outsourced Sales Teams Motivated: A Comprehensive Guide

Outsourcing sales functions has become a powerful tool for companies looking to scale their business, reduce overhead, and tap into specialised expertise. However, one of the most significant challenges that comes with outsourcing is ensuring that your external teams stay motivated, engaged, and aligned with your company’s goals.

When sales teams are outsourced, they often work remotely, and many are located in different regions or countries, making communication, engagement, and motivation more challenging. Unlike in-house teams, they may not have the same level of exposure to your company’s culture, daily activities, or overall mission. Therefore, keeping these teams motivated requires intentional efforts that go beyond just offering financial incentives.

In this comprehensive guide, we’ll explore the strategies and best practices for keeping your outsourced sales teams motivated, ensuring that they remain driven, productive, and aligned with your business goals. Whether you’re working with a small team or a large outsourced sales force, these techniques will help you get the best performance from your external partners.

Why Motivation Matters for Outsourced Sales Teams

Before diving into the specific strategies for motivating outsourced sales teams, let’s first look at why it’s so critical to keep these teams engaged and driven.

Outsourced sales teams, like in-house teams, are responsible for generating revenue, closing deals, and nurturing customer relationships. However, due to their external status, they can sometimes feel disconnected from the core operations of your business, leading to lower engagement and motivation.

Here are a few key reasons why keeping outsourced teams motivated is essential:

Performance Impact: Motivated teams are more likely to exceed sales targets, close more deals, and maintain higher productivity levels. A lack of motivation can lead to missed targets, poor communication, and lower overall performance.
Reduced Turnover: Keeping outsourced sales teams motivated can help reduce turnover rates. Just like in-house employees, external teams may lose interest or look for other opportunities if they feel undervalued or unmotivated. Consistency in staffing leads to better results over time.
Brand Alignment: Your outsourced sales team represents your company to prospects and clients. A motivated team will put in the effort to ensure they are aligning with your brand’s messaging, values, and tone. Disengaged teams may not care as much about how they represent your brand.
Customer Satisfaction: Sales teams play a crucial role in building relationships with customers. Motivated salespeople will go above and beyond to meet customer needs, providing exceptional service that leads to long-term relationships and higher customer satisfaction.

Now that we understand the importance of motivation in outsourced sales teams, let’s dive into the practical strategies for keeping them engaged.

1. Set Clear Expectations and Goals

The first step to keeping any sales team motivated—especially outsourced teams—is setting clear expectations and achievable goals. A lack of direction can lead to confusion, disengagement, and a failure to meet objectives. Setting specific, measurable, and attainable goals provides a roadmap for success and ensures that your outsourced team knows exactly what’s expected of them.

How to Set Effective Goals:

Define Roles and Responsibilities: Be clear about what each team member is responsible for. Are they responsible for generating leads, closing deals, or managing customer relationships? By clearly defining their role, they can focus on their core tasks and deliver results.
Set KPIs: Establish key performance indicators (KPIs) that the team can track and measure their progress against. These might include the number of new leads generated, conversion rates, average deal size, or the number of follow-up calls made.
Create Milestones: Break down larger sales targets into smaller, more manageable milestones. This gives your team short-term goals to achieve and allows for quick wins that keep motivation high.
Align with Business Goals: Ensure that the goals set for the outsourced team align with your company’s broader objectives. When team members understand how their work contributes to the company’s overall success, they feel more connected and motivated.

Setting clear goals and expectations is crucial for keeping your outsourced team on track and focused on achieving the desired results.

2. Foster Open and Ongoing Communication

Effective communication is key to keeping outsourced sales teams motivated and engaged. When teams are working remotely, especially when they are located in different regions or time zones, communication can become sporadic or unclear. To combat this, it’s essential to foster open and ongoing communication that keeps everyone connected and informed.

Tips for Maintaining Strong Communication:

Regular Check-Ins: Schedule regular meetings, either weekly or bi-weekly, to check in on progress, provide feedback, and address any challenges the team may be facing. These meetings should include both one-on-one check-ins with individual team members and broader team meetings.
Use the Right Tools: Invest in communication tools like Slack, Microsoft Teams, or Zoom that allow for real-time collaboration and discussions. These tools help foster a sense of community even when team members are miles apart.
Provide Updates: Keep your outsourced team in the loop with company updates, product developments, or changes in strategy. When the team is informed, they are better equipped to make decisions and align their efforts with the company’s goals.
Encourage Feedback: Communication is a two-way street. Encourage your outsourced team to share feedback on what’s working, what’s not, and any suggestions they have for improving processes. This will make them feel more involved and valued.

By fostering open communication, you’ll build a relationship of trust and transparency, which helps keep your team motivated and engaged in their work.

3. Recognize and Celebrate Success

Salespeople thrive on recognition and acknowledgment. Whether your sales team is in-house or outsourced, it’s important to regularly recognize their achievements and celebrate their successes. Public recognition can be a powerful motivator, making team members feel appreciated and encouraging them to continue performing at a high level.

Ways to Recognize Success:

Public Shoutouts: Create a dedicated channel or space (such as a Slack channel or team meeting) to recognize team members for their hard work. Whether they’ve closed a big deal, exceeded their targets, or demonstrated excellent teamwork, giving public recognition motivates others to strive for similar success.
Sales Contests and Leaderboards: Salespeople are competitive by nature, and friendly competition can be a great motivator. Implement sales contests with rewards for top performers or create a leaderboard that tracks performance metrics in real-time.
Monthly or Quarterly Awards: Consider creating monthly or quarterly recognition awards, such as “Top Sales Performer of the Month” or “Most Improved Team Member.” These awards can include prizes, certificates, or even just a public announcement, depending on your budget.
Celebrate Milestones: Beyond individual performance, celebrate team milestones. If the team reaches a significant goal—such as meeting a quarterly revenue target—celebrate together to foster a sense of accomplishment and camaraderie.

Recognizing and celebrating the efforts of your outsourced sales team helps keep them motivated and encourages them to continue pushing for success.

4. Provide Incentives and Rewards

Motivating sales teams often comes down to one thing: incentives. Performance-based incentives are one of the most effective ways to keep outsourced sales teams engaged and driven to meet (or exceed) their targets. However, rewards should go beyond just monetary bonuses—creative, meaningful rewards can have a lasting impact.

Effective Incentive Strategies:

Performance-Based Bonuses: Sales teams should be rewarded for exceeding expectations. Offer bonuses based on hitting certain targets, such as closing a set number of deals, achieving a certain revenue threshold, or generating high-quality leads.
Non-Monetary Incentives: While financial rewards are important, non-monetary incentives can also be powerful motivators. Consider offering perks such as additional vacation days, wellness stipends, or opportunities for professional development.
Experiential Rewards: Offering unique experiences, such as travel vouchers, event tickets, or paid experiences like dinners or team retreats, can provide memorable incentives that leave a lasting positive impact.
Tailored Rewards: Not all team members are motivated by the same things. Whenever possible, tailor rewards to the individual. Some may prefer cash bonuses, while others might value extra time off or learning opportunities.

Incentives not only motivate teams to reach their goals but also build loyalty, making team members feel valued and appreciated.

5. Offer Growth and Development Opportunities

One of the most common reasons salespeople leave their jobs—whether in-house or outsourced—is the feeling of stagnation. High-performing sales professionals are typically ambitious and growth-oriented. If they feel they are no longer learning or advancing in their careers, they may seek opportunities elsewhere.

Providing continuous growth and development opportunities for your outsourced sales team is crucial for long-term retention and motivation.

How to Foster Growth:

Ongoing Training: Provide your team with regular sales training to improve their skills. This could include workshops on negotiation, objection handling, or industry-specific sales techniques. By investing in their development, you demonstrate your commitment to their success.
Mentorship Programs: Offer mentorship programs where senior sales professionals or managers can mentor newer team members. Mentorship provides guidance, support, and knowledge-sharing, which helps develop talent.
Career Progression: While outsourced teams may not always have the same career paths as in-house employees, offering progression opportunities can still be a motivator. This might involve promoting team members to senior roles or offering more complex projects to those who consistently perform well.
Access to Certifications: Encourage team members to pursue professional certifications or advanced sales courses. Offering to cover the cost of these certifications is a valuable incentive that benefits both the individual and your company.

Providing opportunities for personal and professional growth keeps your outsourced sales team engaged, motivated, and committed to your business.

6. Build a Collaborative Partnership

Outsourced sales teams should not be treated as a temporary solution but rather as partners in your company’s success. Building a collaborative partnership with your outsourced team fosters long-term loyalty and motivation.

How to Build a Strong Partnership:

Involve Them in Strategic Decisions: Treat your outsourced team as an extension of your in-house team. Involve them in strategic decisions, share business goals, and seek their input on how to improve sales processes.
Encourage Ownership: Give your outsourced team ownership over their work. When they feel a sense of responsibility for their success, they’ll be more motivated to meet or exceed expectations.
Create a Team Environment: Foster a sense of teamwork and collaboration between your in-house and outsourced teams. Encourage them to share insights, best practices, and feedback with each other.
Be Transparent: Maintain transparency with your outsourced team. Let them know how their work impacts the company’s overall goals and success. When they see the big picture, they’re more likely to stay motivated and committed.

Building a strong partnership based on trust, collaboration, and shared goals will keep your outsourced sales team engaged for the long term.

Conclusion: Keeping Outsourced Sales Teams Motivated

Keeping outsourced sales teams motivated is critical to their success and the success of your business. By setting clear expectations, fostering open communication, recognizing achievements, offering incentives, and providing growth opportunities, you can ensure that your outsourced team remains engaged, driven, and aligned with your business objectives.

If you’re ready to take your outsourced sales team to the next level, Wingmen Consulting can help. We specialize in building high-performing sales teams that deliver results. Book a complimentary consulting session today at Wingmen Consulting to explore how we can help you manage, motivate, and maximize the potential of your outsourced sales team for long-term success.

Let’s work together to keep your outsourced sales teams motivated and thriving!

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